What to Do in Xagħra

Xagħra packs an unusual amount into one village: prehistoric temples older than Stonehenge, a cave where Odysseus hung out feeling guilty seven years, though not quite guilty enough to make a quick exit, a giantess’s rock, and a toy museum named after a word a Victorian poet invented to describe Gozo’s landscape.

That’s not all, and people say there’s not much to do on Gozo!

Ġgantija Temples & Ta’ Kola Windmill

Ġgantija dates back to around 3600 BC, making it older than Stonehenge and the Pyramids, and is one of the oldest free-standing structures in the world. Its name derives from the Maltese word for giant, ġgant, as local folklore tells us that the structure was built by the giantess, Sansuna. She was known for eating fava beans and honey, no mention is made of a nice Chianti.

A single adult ticket, €10, gets you into both the temple complex and the nearby Ta’ Kola Windmill, one of the few still intact from the Knights of St John era. Hours shift with the season: 10am to 6pm from March to October, 9am to 5pm the rest of the year, with Tuesday closures in January and February. Last admission is 30 minutes before closing. The temples have had their own moment on screen too, featuring in the 1978 fantasy film Warlords of Atlantis and were visited by British national treasure, Richard E. Grant in his Very Modern Odyssey in spring 2026.

Xagħra Stone Circle

Also known as the Brochtorff Circle, after Charles de Brochtorff who created a water painting of the site in the 1820s, this Neolithic burial complex sits close to Ġgantija and predates parts of it, with tombs going back as far as 4100 BC. It’s closed to the general public: the underground cave system is fragile and prone to collapse, so the site has been fenced off and reburied for its own protection. Heritage Malta runs private guided visits by appointment, capped at ten people, but the terrain is genuinely hazardous and children under eight aren’t permitted past the entrance. The easier way to see what came out of it is next door at the Ġgantija visitor centre, where the statuettes, pottery and tools excavated from the circle are on display.

Ramla Bay

Gozo’s best beach, a wide stretch of red-gold sand backed by dunes, sits a short drive down the hill from Xagħra. It gets busy in high summer, but it is quieter before ten or after five. Full detail on parking, facilities and the rest of the island’s beaches is on our beach guide. It’s also one of the most filmed stretches of coast on Gozo: Coronation Street has shot here, along with Byron, The Burning Shore, Pulp, Treasure in Malta, and Can Heironymus Merkin Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?, a title almost as memorable as the beach itself.

Calypso’s Cave

On the clifftop above Ramla Bay, Calypso’s Cave is reputedly the actual location where Calypso held Odysseus captive for seven years. The cave entrance itself is fenced off, closed due to geological movement that’s made it unsafe, but the viewing platform above stays open, and the view over the bay is the real reason to come regardless.

A walk or trip up here can be combined with some urban exploration of Ulysses Lodge.

Ulysses Lodge

An abandoned hotel on the edge of the village, worth the walk up for one of the best panoramic views over Gozo. No ticket, no crowds, just the climb. It’s also on screen: the 2005 film Gozo used both the lodge and the beach below as locations.

Xerri’s Grotto and Ninu’s Cave

Both of these started the same way: a Xagħra resident digging a well and finding a cave underneath instead. Xerri’s Grotto was found in 1924, Ninu’s Cave in 1888, and both are small, family-run show caves with stalactites and stalagmites. Entry is via the front doors of their respective houses which also show the opening times.

They are usually closed in the off-season, so it’s worth calling ahead to check opening times. I once ran into an Australian whose family ran either Xerri’s or Ninu’s, unfortunately I can’t remember which. Unluckily for her, it was winter and they were closed. When I asked, surely they’d let family in, she revealed that particular cave was owned by two sides of the family, and they took it in turns each year to run it. Alas, it was not her side’s year during the visit.

The Pomskizillious Museum of Toys

Edward Lear, the British poet and illustrator loved Malta, visiting it in 1848, 1862 and 1866, during the last trip he spent a week in Gozo, creating over 80 drawings as he wandered the island on his daily walks. He invented the word Pomskizillious, and Gromphibberous, to describe Gozo’s coastline, and Susan and Edwin Lowe borrowed it for the toy museum they opened here in the 1970s.

Inside you’ll find all sorts of treasures: a Maltese doll with a carved wooden head from the late 1700s, Italian nativity figures from the 1790s, a 1930s Noah’s Ark, Hornby trains and Dinky cars. Admission’s €2.80, but opening hours are limited and change by month, mornings only and closed some days entirely, so check before you go rather than turning up on spec.

Sansuna’s Rock

A large limestone boulder on the outskirts of Xagħra with a local legend attached: it’s said to have been carried here by the giantess, Sansuna, who also built Ġgantija. Archaeologists have a less romantic theory, that it’s more likely the remains of a neolithic burial chamber. Either way, it’s free to see and worth the short detour.

Xagħra Parish Church

The Basilica of the Nativity of Our Lady, known locally as Il-Bambina, anchors the village square. Built between 1815 and 1855, with its dome added in 1892, it holds a marble statue of the young Virgin Mary brought from Marseilles in 1878. Its feast, il-Vittorja, falls on 8 September , which is a Maltese public holiday that commemorates the Knights’ victory over the Ottomans in the Great Siege of 1565. Full feast dates and what to expect can be found in our separate guide to Gozo’s festas.

The Bored Peach Club

In a beautifully restored farmhouse near the centre of the village, lies Bored Peach Club, an artists’ retreat that celebrates anything that sparks imagination and inspires creativity. They run a variety of events throughout the year, which are worth checking out if you want to see a different side of Gozo life.

I joined a walking tour with them in spring 2026, guided by the person behind the Malta Doors Instagram account, and spent a very enjoyable Sunday morning wandering the backstreets of Xagħra. It’s the perfect activity for Gozo, slow looking, rather than rushing through.

Madame Blanc Mysteries: Where It All Began

The Madame Blanc Mysteries has filmed on Gozo since 2021, and Xagħra has its own quiet claim in the show’s history: it’s where Jean’s journey to Sainte Victoire begins, including Rory’s crash and the cottage that becomes Jean’s home. Full detail is on our Madame Blanc filming locations guide.

Not everything worth doing on Gozo starts in Xagħra

If you’re planning day trips further afield, here’s what’s booking well across the island, boat trips, island-wide tours, the kind of thing worth arranging ahead rather than turning up and hoping.

Seen everything on this list? Where to stay in Xagħra covers hotels, farmhouses and villas close enough to reach all of it on foot or a short drive, and where to eat in Xagħra covers everywhere worth stopping for along the way.